Living green in Maine, with a life and death awareness, urgency.
Because its more important than that. Mainers are built, wired, grounded with the four seasons that swirl and nurture around us.
Survival meaning you can not white flag it, no running out and just buy the solution option.
Take care of what we have, respect for your surroundings and others. That is the axiom that is kept simple in Maine. So all the green green living this and that buzz talk makes Mainer’s smile. Being green saves money.
It goes back to living on the farm, growing your own food. Heating with equal length, split chunks of beech, maple, birch, oak fuel from the back forty woodlot. Composting waste vegetable peelings, anything organic. Spreading animal manure fertilizer on fields. Using the sunny breeze to air dry your clothing, laundry.
Blown away by the natural beauty of whatever season in Maine happens every day when you live here. Spoiled with our rich local beauty with 6000 lakes, all that that wildlife but conserving the resources around us.
Helping our kids to learn the same respect.
Passing on the green tradition we called country living…before everyone else applied a color to it.
Taking nothing for granted. Always knowing how lucky we are to find ourselves in Maine. Maybe before you get here its like living partially, or fully paralyzed. Maine, get here quick as you can. The attitude, its happy for all we have, it’s all good here.
Maine Potato Harvest Workers, Kids In The Fields Picking Spuds.
Watching a movie last week with my oldest son Alex, the main star was asked where is Hell, does it exist?
The questioner was looking for a place and the response was “Other people are Hell”. It sounds sad to say we make our own misery being ungrateful or thinking we did not get a fair shake in life. But happy, it’s a full time job, decision to live our lives. Show our kids, local communities.
Stephen Hayes has his happiness viewpoint perspective to share. I believe where you live, the surroundings have plenty to do with your happiness meter reading. To avoid the “tilt” light from glowing, coming on, Maine offers more scenery, less people. Maybe that combination provides the daily playing field we wake up to, leave behind when the Sandman visits.
My job as a Maine real estate broker is to provide tons of information on properties with boat loads of images, helpful links and blog post copy and video productions of the area and listings.
But just as important as the property that I make my bread and butter from is to sell, the area of Maine, Maine itself, the place and people just as big a part of the marketing, story telling.
If you love where you live, you are in your right place. Your job, day to day is not a labor, tedious. Like the glass slipper Cinderella was made to wear, Maine is one big beautiful unspoiled state to consider. Move here, retire and relocate to Vacationland. Low cost investment with wide open four seasons return is what Maine offers for folks serious about fun, family, being happy.
When you live in Maine, you don’t eat a lot of rice growing up New Maine Potato Pickers.on a potato farm in Aroostook County.
Nothing wrong with rice, but with potatoes all around you on the Maine farm, its just a big part of most meals.
This year the day after day of sunshine from spring planting through out summer cultivating, hoeing, spraying had some concerned about the effect on the yield, quality of Maine potatoes. This season with roughly 85% of the crop out of the field, in the bin or on the way to the fresh market, Maine’s potato farmers report success. Hurricane Earl and local potato field irrigation pond water relief to parched spuds made all the difference in the spud season finish.
Between 1928 and 1958, Aroostook County alone produced more potatoes than any state in the nation. But the eating habits, methods in raising spuds have changed. In 1960, my dad a potato farmer told me 50,000 railroad cars of Maine potatoes were annually shipped out of Aroostook County. But then trailer trucks and overnight service kicked in with the “just in time inventory” business practice model adoption.
Maine Is Scenery, Four Season Beauty, Rock Bound Coastlines, Vacationers.
This is the view that greeted agents, real estate brokers as the Maine State REALTOR’s Convention in Bar Harbor ME wrapped up today.
Maine is one big state with varied back drops of four season beauty, scenery. But the same down to earth, friendly, family oriented hard working people no matter where you go in Vacationland.
Maine is the destination and being next to water, on a lake, river or something waterfront property related is the mission.
You are not interested in an existing structure and frankly have found the places in your price range are often a pile of rotten boards. In the shape of a camp, cottage but like a house of cards a good wind could level.
By the time you undo, redo and make do you still do not have the Maine waterfront property you had hoped for. But lots of receipts for beaucoup dollars poured in to the lesson in futility.
The one good thing though about existing Maine waterfront property with a structure is you are usually closer than 100 feet to the shoreline, grandfathered in.
Rebuild around the same spot, foot print. And the crude but existing septic system even if a 55 gallon metal drum is something to get your foot in the door for an upgrade. Improving an existing system has lots of added Maine shoreland zone extra plumbing code options too.
Septic holding tank permits without a leach field for new construction don’t happen, are not issued. But existing places as a last resort, in a hardship could be approved. Expensive to pump a 2000 gallon holding tank too many times a year. And a septic full alarm system put in place, contract with tank pumper needed establishment too. Composting, gas toilets, privvies or outhouses and non pressurized water facilties also part of the plumbing code sub chapters to fully understand. Study the options, alternatives for wastwaster, both gray and black. Read more on Maine’s shoreland zoning here.
So empty lot, on a Maine lake, you can clear 30 percent of the trees. No, it can not be totally de-treed and crew cutted causing soil erosion. Disturbing the local wildlife’s habitat and causing eye sores as others tour by in a kayak, boat. Lakes by the way if they could talk would make it clear, they hate lawns, like trees, ground cover, bushes, wild flowers. Make sure you get a Maine septic system soil test HHE 200 done by a site evaluator too. Before you buy. To know if you can put in a new septic system or not and what the cost will be. If the Maine waterfront shoreland is poorly drained, has the wrong soil profile, is boulder city, an extra land purchase across the road behind you is an option to explore. Again, before you buy this Maine waterfront shoreland that may be nothing more than a day lot, not buildable without that soil test / septic option.
How close is the neighboring well, water souce and septic tanks, leachfields?
Or is there an intermittent brook, wetland or vernal pool to consider as well?
Hopefully the extra land if needed for the septic above and beyond the lot price on the Maine lake, pond, river is not offered at a gun to your head, king’s ransom price level either. Protecting Maine’s natural resources is not a case of being difficult, stubborn. It’s plain good stewardship. Passing the Maine waterfront real estate on to your kids, the next generation in as good or better shape than you were privledged to have the use of during your lifetime on earth. Follow our sister Maine blog posts.
But less dependence on foreign oil, clean energy creation, generation is a pretty delicious thought. If the natural balance of a state as unspoiled as Maine is kept in check.
The University Of Maine in Presque Isle has their own wind generator.
The image above of the early set of wind turbines, generators on Mars Hill Mountain where there is already a commercial ski area, golf course, television and radio / cell towers. How do you feel about wind generators that are not unique to Maine.
